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20 STEM activities to engage kids this summer

This week marks the beginning of summer holidays for Australian school kids so why not enjoy science time with your kids, cooking, making rockets, creating bubbles or building an automatic flying fishing machine?

To celebrate summer, we’ve hand-picked 20 hands-on STEM activities for kids from the Australian children’s science newsletter, Double Helix Extra (DHE).

DHE is a sister publication to Cosmos magazine and has been published by the CSIRO – Australia’s national science agency – for more than 12 years.

All the following activities go well with lots of sunshine and quality time with family and friends.

Make your own ice cream at home. Credit: panaya chittaratlert / Getty Images

Cheery chemistry

Make egg-free meringues – ‘tis the season for pavlova… but would you make your pav with chickpeas?

Cook without heat – enjoy a cool dish from Latin America, thanks to the chemistry of citrus.

Homemade ice cream – don’t wait around for the ice cream truck, make it yourself!

Rainbow coloured grapes in a bowl. One of the hands-on activitiesGlitter grapes. Credit: Double Helix Extra

Balmy biology

Colour changing flowers – give a colourful gift using flowers, food dye and some patience.

Eat glitter grape candy – how many of these sour “lollies” can you eat this summer?

Create a terrarium – capture a little bit of nature to enjoy indoors.

A man measures out a meter in a park as part of the make your own solar system activityMeasuring out a scale model solar system. Credit: Double Helix Extra

“Phestive” physics

How bright is the Sun? – The Sun seems awfully bright this time of year, so why not work out exactly how bright?

Make a solar system to scale – a perfect sunny summer day activity for the park.

Foam bubble blower – make thousands of bubbles that you can shape!

Newsletter

A grandmother making pie with her granddaughter. Making a pie chart out of pie is one of the activitiesThe first step to making a pie chart is baking pie. Credit: FreshSplash / Getty Images

Merry maths

A Christmas packing puzzle – can you solve this 3D puzzle? (This is a great challenge for a lazy afternoon.)

Make a pie chart – put some holiday treats to use (and then eat them).

Swap the blocks – can you swap the red and green blocks?

A teenage boy eating a s'more from a solar oven, one of the hands-on activitiesEating a s’more from a solar oven. Credit: Double Helix Extra

Tropical tech & engineering

Build a solar oven – harness the summer sun to cook up a chocolate-y treat.

Launch a stomp rocket – invite your friends over and see how high your rockets can fly!

Heron’s fountain – while you can’t jump in this fountain, it works without any electricity!

Build an automatic fishing machine – discover an Indigenous fishing technique that can make fish fly!

Colourful, waxy fabric around a sandwich. Beeswax wraps are one of the hands-on activitiesA beeswax wrap in action. Credit: Double Helix Extra

Bonus activities: conscious conservation

Make beeswax food wraps – a customisable gift you can feel extra good about.

Composting – summer is a great time to start this sustainable habit.

Turn a t-shirt into a bag – here’s a crafty activity to carry all your presents.

Build a bee hotel – set your garden abuzz with beneficial native bees!

If you enjoyed these activities, we invite you to sign up for Double Helix Extra, a fortnightly newsletter delivering science activities, news, quizzes and more for kids and curious adults.

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